LyAndra Lujan

Education:

Scholarly Achievements:

NIH Genetics Training Program Trainee
NSF GRFP Honorable Mention
Graduated with Honors with an Associate of Science in Integrated Studies and an Associate of Arts in Anthropology from the Central New Mexico Community College.
Graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Evolutionary Anthropology from the University of New Mexico in May 2019.
University of New Mexico Anthropology Department Honors
Honors Designation from the University of New Mexico Honors College
The John Martin “Jack” Campbell Award for Undergraduate Student Research

Presentations:

Public dissertation defense in Fall 2025 on Fine-Scale Recombination Rate Variation in Crows.
Participated in the 3 Minute Thesis competition at the University of Oregon in Fall 2024.
Trainee Talk given to the University of Oregon Department of Biology in Fall 2024 on Investigating Recombination Rate Variation Through Population-level Genetic Variation in Crows
Poster at Evolution 2024 on Investigating Genetic Divergence of Meiotic Recombination Genes in Corvidae.
Trainee Talk given to the University of Oregon Department of Biology in Spring 2023 on Investigating Recombination Rate Variation Through Population-level Genetic Variation in Stickleback and Crows
Presented Ph.D. research proposal to the University of Oregon Department of Biology in Spring 2022 on Investigating Variation in Meiotic Recombination Rate in Stickleback
Three Rotation talks given to the University of Oregon Institute of Ecology and Evolution in Fall 2020, Winter 2021, and Spring 2021.
Presented research on the speciation of Aglaeactis aliciae hummingbirds at the Western Field Ornithologist 2019 conference tour of the Museum of Southwestern Biology.
Presented a poster at the 2019 AGSU conference on the phylogeography of the ALDH2-2 deficiency allele.

Research Interests:

Using population genetics and computational genomics to study fine-scale recombination rate variation in crows.

Previous Research:

Spring 2021 Cresko lab rotation: Applying Single Cell Sequencing techniques to zebrafish and stickleback.
Winter 2021 Ting lab rotation: Comparing differences in AD-Libs output on haplotyped and un-haplotyped African elephant hybrid simulation data.
Fall 2020 Singh lab rotation: The HORMA Domain containing proteins HTP1 and HTP2 in C. elegans
The population genetics of sunbeam hummingbirds including evidence of hybrid species and adaptations linked to high altitudes. Dr. Christopher Witt’s Ornithology Lab at University of New Mexico, Post-Baccalaureate Research, July 2019 – September 2020
The human ALDH2-2 allele in East Asian populations, specifically interested in a period of frequency gain and evidence of selection. Dr. Jeffrey Long’s Genetics Computation Lab at the University of New Mexico, Undergraduate Research/Post-Baccalaureate Research, August 2018 – February 2020.

Other Experience:

Graduate Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Students Vice President 2023-2024 academic year
Teaching Assistant for BI380 Evolution, BI211 Cell Biology, BI213 Population Ecology and Evolution, BI359 Plant Biology, and BI121 Introduction to Human Physiology.
Field Assistant for Jessica Williamson’s Dissertation research on Giant Hummingbird (Patagona gigas) Migration in the Andes of Peru, February 2020 – March 2020.

Skills:

Programming languages C++, python, R.
Single Cell Sequencing using Cell Ranger and Seurat.
Analysis currently used in Population Genetics including PCA, Admixture analysis, Phylogenetic Trees, Extended Haplotype Homozygosity test, Slatkin test, McDonald Kreitman tests, and PAML.
Processing population-level genetic data through GATK and Picard.
Collect and prepare ornithological museum specimens.

Relevant Coursework:

Reviewed for:

Last Edited December 2025

LyAndra Lujan, Ph.D.